The present invention generally relates to devices for the storage of tools. More specifically, the present invention relates to devices for the storage of powered driving tools such as impact wrenches and impact drivers typically found in automobile repair garages, services stations, and in automobile or vehicle manufacturing and repair facilities.
Most garages or other repair facilities use air compressed or electric powered drivers to assist in manipulation of screws, bolts, nuts, lugs, and other types of fasteners. Such powered drivers typically include impact wrenches or impact drivers, which generally consist of a pistol grip handle with means for connecting the tool to electric or compressed air power, and a drive end. The drive end is typically a shaft which terminates at a rectilinear male drive end that is adapted for insertion into the female end of a socket or other means for manipulating a nut, bolt, lug, or other such fastener.
Prior tool storage systems do not accommodate powered driving tools of the type discussed above. Accordingly, these tools and others like them are typically stored wherever possible, resulting in a potentially disorganized garage or repair facility. In operations for the manufacture or repair of vehicles such as automobiles, efficiency is important, and the lack of an organized system for the storage of all tools can result in decreased efficiency and repetition of effort. Furthermore, such lack of organization can result in temporary loss of tools, or repetitive investment in tools that are difficult to find. Accordingly, a need exists for a means of organizing powered drive tools that complements existing tool storage means and that provides a means of organizing a vehicle manufacture or repair facility. Such a means of organization can increase the efficiency of the facility and contribute to more economical and less time consuming operations.
The present invention provides a means of organizing and storing power driven tools that is compatible with existing tool storage devices such as chests and cabinets, and can also be used separately, providing a moveable means of storing power driven tools such as impact drivers and wrenches.
Specifically, the present invention provides a device for holding at least one power driven tool of the type comprising a handle and a substantially rectilinear male drive end at a terminal end thereof, the male drive end being adapted to be inserted into a substantially rectilinear female end of a component to be driven or manipulated by the tool;
the device comprising at least one aperture formed in a surface of the device, the aperture having an internal dimension substantially equal to the maximum dimension of the male drive end and having a cross-sectional configuration for retaining the male drive end in a fixed position, while the portion of the device posterior to the drive end is unsupported and cantilevered from the aperture, the surface in which the at least one aperture is formed being positioned at an acute angle with respect to a horizontal or a vertical plane;
a support and biasing bar on an inner surface of the device, the bar having apertures formed therein corresponding to the apertures formed in the surface of the device and aligned therewith; and
means for separating the surface in which the at least one aperture is formed from a second surface by a distance at least equal to the length of the male drive end.